Benefits of reading the news in print vs electronically.
I am not knocking the internet. The net certainly contains many benefits too numerous to list in its entirity here.
One of the most helpful things of the net is getting the latest on what ever topic you're interested in. There is the latest news from newspapers, ezines, journals etc.
Now this gets to one of the benfits. My confession is I'm old fashion. I strongly prefer reading the newspaper. I mean the paper newspaper as opposed to the net newspaper.
Print journalism feels comfortable. One can read in any comfortable position desired. One can read in leisure. Technically one can do this on the net. Please see below.
Its much easier to handle the paper. Try folding a computer. Plus did you ever try to put a computer or that matter a laptop into a tote bag? Laptops are compact and fairly easy to carry. But a newspaper is far easier to take with you. When was the last time you ever heard the expression lug around for a newspaper. They are extremely lightweight and can be easily folded up to fit into some of the tightest spaces in one's hand bag, brief case etc.One can take one's time reading news. The print at least to me, is easier on the eyes. One can carry the paper with them. True there are laptops. However they tend to be pricey. Not everyone can purchase one. Besides one needs to go to a laptop friendly place to use them. Ergo their public usage is limited. One can read the newspaper on a public vehicle, an airplane, backseat of a car. I certainly don't recommend reading one while driving. That's where I draw the line. My point is papers can be read in far more many places than the net, including laptops.
The main disadvantage is the trash problem and the environment. This is true an issue. On the othe hand this is true of print materials in general. Paper, especially cardboard is used for food, other merchandise, countless items. To say newspapers contribute to rubbish is true. But so do so many other paper products. Should be deny every paper product? Of course we shouldn't.
The main benefit of newspapers is they are accessible to everybody either through inexpensive editions or for free.
This is not true of the internet since one either needs to pay for the internet service provider. Even more so not everybody can pay for DSL and/or Cable. These two services are out of reach for many people worldwide.
The internet by its very nature encourages sitting on one's backside. Plus it makes one rather idle too. The net can cause eye strain if one stares too long at it. Eyes being strained is not uncommon with so many people spending hours staring at the net screen. Besides there are no worries over frozen mouses, slow downloads, computer, net crashes etc.
True one can take a break. But how many people really do that? Especially when the world wide web can be so addictive. Of course one of the major disadvantages of this modern phenomena is addiction. Internet aka net addiction is a real psychological issue. Addictions by their very nature makes it difficult for people to do much else. Even to the detriment of their health, especially their sleeping. Sometimes even not getting enough to time to eat enough food. Or to express a different way to interfere with one's life and the basic one needs to do like getting enough sleep, eating enough, one's social life, even work.
The news now is the newspapers are becoming bankrupt, drastically losing readers, decreasing ad revenues. This is even true of the venerable New York Times. This is a horrible shame. Newspapers were published in the United States at least since the time of Benjamin Franklin's "Poor Richard's Almanac" since the time of the American Revolution. Its a terrible shame not to continue this fine tradition of news for the reading public.
Lets remember not everybody can access the net. Practically everybody can pay for a newspaper. There are even free papers. There are localized versions of the Metro newspaper in many cities worldwide that cost nothing. Please note I am not necessarily endorsing the "Metro" I am merely reporting a fact. My employment is not with this company.
True many libraries in the US include internet use. However if my experience is true, nationwide, this is quite unsatisfactory solution. The reality, at least for my personal experience, the connection is really slow with dialup. I doubt there are computers running on DSL or Cable. I think if their computers were in a race, they'd come in pretty much last place. Many sites are blocked too. Lastly the most one can be on the net is one hour. My point is Library internet is significantly less quality than office or home counterpart.
By the way people in Phila, PA can read newspapers free in every library there. The fact that there are libraries set to close because of the deficit in Phila. goverment doesn't change this truth. On a personal note I peacefully, lawfully protested the closing of one library.